Quick Start

This guide walks you through the workflows you'll touch every day. Stops at "you can ship code with vis"; for the deeper picture, follow the links at each section's end.

💡 Already installed? Skip to Running Tasks. New here? Start with Installation.

Running Tasks

Run a target across all workspace projects in dependency order:

vis run build

Run with increased parallelism:

vis run build --parallel=5

Run only specific projects:

vis run test --projects=@my/app,@my/lib

Preview what would run without executing:

vis run build --dry-run

Affected Detection

Only run tasks for projects changed since a git ref:

vis affected test --base=main

Compare specific git refs:

vis affected lint --base=HEAD~5 --head=HEAD

Checking for Outdated Dependencies

For pnpm or bun workspaces with catalogs, check which dependencies are outdated:

vis check

Check only specific packages:

vis check react typescript

Only show minor and patch updates:

vis check --target minor

Updating Dependencies

Update catalog dependencies interactively:

vis update --interactive

Update only patch versions (safe for production):

vis update --target patch

Preview changes without applying:

vis update --dry-run

Rollback if something goes wrong:

vis update --rollback

Visualizing the Dependency Graph

View your project dependency graph:

vis graph

Export as DOT format for Graphviz:

vis graph --format=dot --output=graph.dot

Managing Git Hooks

Install git hooks:

vis hook install

Migrate from husky:

vis hook migrate

Releasing a version

Set up the release subsystem and migrate from an existing tool if you have one:

vis release init --workflows

Record a version bump for the change you just made:

vis release add --packages '@scope/cerebro:minor' --message 'Add tab completion'

Commit the resulting .vis/release/<slug>.md alongside your code and push. CI takes care of opening the "Versioned release" PR, publishing on merge, tagging, and creating GitHub / GitLab releases.

See the release guide for the full walkthrough — change files, channels, snapshots, and CI setup.

Configuration

Create a vis.json in your workspace root for persistent configuration:

{
    "tasks": {
        "build": {
            "dependsOn": ["^build"],
            "outputs": ["{projectRoot}/dist/**"],
            "cache": true
        }
    },
    "update": {
        "target": "minor",
        "exclude": ["legacy-*"]
    }
}

See the Configuration page for all available options.

Where to next

• Release manager — ship versions, changelogs, and tags from change files
• Why vis — side-by-side capability matrix vs. Turbo / Nx / moon / Vite Task
• Best practices — team workflows, security, CI/CD patterns
• Commands — full per-command reference